


Best Blaze Burns Brightest

by Rikkamaru



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Families of Choice, Friendship, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tsuna-Centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2018-10-09 10:13:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10409832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikkamaru/pseuds/Rikkamaru
Summary: Tsuna can see the spirits of the Arcobaleno's pacifiers and gets a family he has every intention of keeping.





	1. Spark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cywscross](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cywscross/gifts), [Hiruma_Musouka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hiruma_Musouka/gifts).



> "They say that the best blaze burns brightest, when circumstances are at their worst." - Howl's Moving Castle

Tsuna blinked a little, staring on with wide eyes as the lady across from him examined him critically for a tense moment before she snorted. "I must agree with my host," she said loftily, turning her head in clear dismissal and making Tsuna curl up a little in confused hurt. "That idiot keeps singing your praises, but you're certainly nothing special yet."

Tsuna wilted a little at that, hurt overtaking confusion. "I'm sorry, nee-san," he told her, not noticing the way she whipped back around to stare at him with wide eyes. "I know I'm Dame. Mama says it all the time, and so do my classmates. I don't know why anyone would be…" his brow furrowed in childish concentration, "singing my praises since I'm no good and everyone says so, so it must be true."

When a long silence passed without the lady making a sound or even moving, Tsuna peeked back up. The lady was staring fixedly at him, her eyes wide and surprised. "You can see me?" she asked, but it sounded more like a demand and Tsuna flinched a little at the harshness.

"Yes nee-san, I can see you. Why wouldn't I?"

Pioggia stared at him, uncharacteristically stunned.

* * *

"So you're the spirit of a pacifier?" The question was appropriately dubious and Pioggia huffed a little to cover up the flash of amusement she felt at the way the child was quietly questioning her mental stability.

"Yes," she simply said back, her blue eyes which distinguished her as the – now _a_ – spirit of the Rain Pacifier warm as she regarded the child that was staring at her with equal fascination. Her previous dismissal seemed to work against her though as the child, while curious, was also very sad as he interacted with her, and Pioggia couldn't stop the wave of shame she felt overcome herself.

She was a spirit of Rain, the essence of calmness, and here she was insulting a child to his face. Never mind that she didn't know he could see her; that was simply cruel of her. Clearly her host was rubbing off on her more than she'd thought Lal was. Look like Lal Mirch's true form with blue eyes she may, but Pioggia was never meant to act like her.

"I'm sorry I insulted you, Tsuna-kun," she finally apologized. "That was very rude of me, and I wouldn't want someone to say that stuff to my face if I were you."

"That's alright, nee-san," the child chirped back, smiling a bit more genuinely at her as he uncurled a little from his defensive position. "I would rather you insult me where I can hear you than where I can't; that way I know how you really feel!"

A surprising wave of anger flashed through her then, and Pioggia lightly gritted her teeth to stop it from showing. The seven year old clearly dealt with stuff like this from more than just her. Before she could think about it more the little brunette distracted her. "How do you know my name, nee-san?"

The spirit smiled lightly at the child. "Iemitsu, your papa, was telling my host about you and she was curious, as was I, if you matched his praises."

Tsuna looked at her in confusion. "Who's I-e-mi-tsu? I don't have a papa."

Pioggia looked at the child in confusion. "Of course you do, Tsuna-kun. Everyone has a papa."

Tsuna shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Papas are people who play catch with you and tell you you did a good job and carry you when you get hurt. They take you for popsicles and ruffle your hair and scare away the big kids if they push you or call you names. He's always there and is gross with mama and puts you on his shoulders and says that he loves you.

"So I don't have a papa," Tsuna concluded, smiling with all the pride of a child who knew something the adults didn't. "All we have is a gaijin that visits sometimes to sleep on the couch."

…Pioggia has never wanted to kill someone as strongly as she did Iemitsu in that moment. His own child called him an outsider and, given his definition of a father, she was inclined to agree. Even as she thought that Pioggia tried to remember the last time Iemitsu went home to spend time with his family. The most recent she could remember was two years ago, and it made something in her hurt.

The key to a good Family was the strength of their ties. If Iemitsu couldn't even keep his ties with his real family, then the Vongola would never see a golden age with Iemitsu leading the CEDEF. But it hurt more than just because of that, and Pioggia didn't know how to describe it.

Once more Tsuna distracted her from her thoughts. "What's your name, nee-san?"

Pioggia smiled lightly at him. "Apologies. My name is Pioggia. It's Italian for rain," she explained when Tsuna looked more confused at the sound of her name.

The brunette smiled back and tried her name himself. "Pio-ja…Pio-ji-a…Pioggia…your name sounds really pretty, Pio-nee!" He exclaimed, and Pioggia laughed a little at his attempts at her name and subsequent shortening to "Pio-nee".

"Thank you, Tsuna-kun, I like your name as well," she told him, quite happy when the boy squeaked in embarrassment and blushed at her compliment.

"Th-Thank you!" he chirped back, face still beet red in pleased bashfulness. "D-Do you want to stay for dinner, Pio-nee?"

The spirit's face fell a little at the innocent question. "I'm sorry, Tsuna-kun, but I don't need to eat food. I wouldn't be able to try any of it."

Tsuna's expression fell a little at her admission, but he still seemed stubborn on the matter. "Th-that's alright. Can…can you just stay to keep me company? Mama doesn't talk to me as much anymore, so you being there would just be really nice."

Confused (his mother doesn't talk to him? Isn't he the only other person there?), Pioggia agreed to join him despite her own reluctance and walked with the boy down the stairs, grabbing onto the back of his shirt as he nearly tripped and fell down, and stopping outside of the room to watch Tsuna enter and greet his mother. The spirit frowned a little; Tsuna hadn't been quiet in the least when he thought he was falling and so shrieked. Did she somehow not hear him?

"Kaa-san, my friend wants to stay for dinner. Is that alright?" Tsuna asked softly, smiling up at his mom who beamed back happily.

"That's perfectly fine, Tsu-kun! Who's your friend?" Nana looked past her son, searching for this friend he was talking about.

"Her name is Pio-ji-a. She's Italian!" Tsuna turned around and waved at Pioggia, who smiled at him and moved closer.

"She can't see me, Tsuna-kun," she reminded him gently, to his confusion. "I'm a spirit. Only you can see me. Just tell her that I'm your imaginary friend, and it should be okay."

"Kaa-san, Pio-nee said that she's my 'imaginary friend'," he obediently told his mother, who wilted a little and gave her son a look.

"Honestly Tsu-kun," she admonished. "Don't get your mama's hopes up like that. I thought you had made a real friend. I don't mind that your Dame, Tsu-kun," she made sure to add when he looked down at the ground sadly, not noticing his minute flinch and not able to see the way Pioggia's face grew thunderous. "I was just really hoping that you'd made a friend."

"…I'm sorry, mama," he told her, still looking at the ground, not wanting to see what he thought would be Pioggia's equal disappointment in him. "I'll do better."

"I'm sure you will, Tsu-kun," she comforted, but clearly didn't believe herself. "Now let's eat dinner."

As Tsuna sat down across from his mother, Pioggia stood stock still, and was glad that Tsuna wasn't looking at her then. It would have been difficult to explain to him the unmitigated rage that was there. This… _woman_ wasn't a mother! Tsuna may have thought so, but Pioggia had lived long enough, gained enough experiences through her hosts, that she knew what a parent was! And a mother did not talk to her son like this! And they would never, _never_ , call their child useless!

Pioggia seethed in the corner, before bottling it away – she'd deal with that anger later, when Tsuna couldn't possibly see it – and walking forward to join Tsuna at the table. Nana jumped a little as the chair beside Tsuna screeched back a little, before scolding Tsuna for "scaring her like that" and continuing her meal. She missed Pioggia's contemplative stare and her son's curious observation of his new friend.

With that awkward meal out of the way, Tsuna helped wash and put away the dishes before going back upstairs, Pioggia on his heels. "I'm sorry, Pio-nee," the little brunet apologized, his head down in shame. "I didn't know that Mama would get mad at me for introducing you."

Pioggia scowled, but made sure that Tsuna couldn't see the look on her face when he mentioned his mother. "It's fine, Tsuna-kun," she soothed instead, patting him on the head gently. "Your mom didn't expect me to be your friend, that's all."

Tsuna looked back up at her, but it with a reservation similar to how he had looked earlier, when Pioggia had first dismissed him without knowing that he could see her perfectly. "Will…will Pio-nee still be my friend? Even though Mama thinks I'm Dame? Whenever I brought friends over before, Mama would call me Dame and so would my friends and I didn't want to be friends with them after that."

Pioggia took a deep breath, and very slowly released it. This…wasn't right, by any stretch of the imagination. "I will still be your friend, Tsuna-kun," she told the child seriously, kneeling down for him to better see her sincerity. "And I will never, _never_ , call you Dame. Because you aren't; you're very special, and they just can't see it, okay?"

The child stared at her, growing teary-eyed to the bluenette's alarm. When he began to cry softly and hug her waist, Pioggia was scrambling to comfort him. "Shh, don't cry Tsuna-kun. Did I upset you?"

"Nuh-uh," the child denied, sniffling. "You're just the first person to tell me that I'm special and _mean it_. The gaijin says it sometimes, but he's also says he'll come back soon and he never does, so I didn't believe him. You're my first friend to tell me I'm special, and not call me Dame."

Pioggia hugged him back at that, holding on to him tightly and scowling darkly at the thought of Tsuna's former "friends". "Anyone who calls you Dame isn't your friend, Tsuna-kun. They're just bullies and you should never listen to them." She held him tightly like that for the rest of the night, and gently put him to bed, promising that she would be there in the morning.

Fleetingly, she thought about Lal; the CEDEF member was her host, and she should return to her at some point. But…Pioggia looked down at Tsuna, who was sleeping contentedly, a truly happy smile on his face that Pioggia only began to see when they were talking. She thought on his words, his absent father, his poor excuse of a mother, and the burning frustration she'd felt building up in her after _years_ of Lal not listening to a single word she'd said, no longer trying to connect to the Rain pacifier as she thought that she was rejected from it.

She thought briefly on the other spirits. Would they notice that she was gone? Most likely; it would take them a week at least to notice her not hovering around Lal, but they would wait a while after that before actively searching her out. Nuvola and Nebbia would understand; they were connected to their users and so would be sympathetic to her frustration where the others were too stubborn to really feel the helplessness that had been weighing on Pioggia.

No, she shook her head viciously. They couldn't sway her on this. Lal was her host, but Tsuna _needed_ her.

And that's all there was to it.


	2. Catch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pioggia sees how Tsuna's typical school day goes, and is displeased.

"Are you ready for school, Tsuna-kun?”

The brunet turned at the question and beamed at his friend, shifting his bag a little for comfort. “Yep, Pio-nee, I’m ready! What are you going to do while I’m at school?”

The spirit smiled at him and crossed her arms. “Well I’m going to follow you of course! It’s not like anyone else can see me, right?”

Tsuna cocked his head to the side, curious. “Well, yeah, but can they walk through you? Wouldn’t that feel weird?” The child tried to imagine someone walking through him and shuddered a little.

Pioggia looked thoughtful. “That’s true…and I don’t want to distract you too much…ah!” she snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it!” And right before Tsuna’s eyes she began to shrink, blue overtaking her until only a small blue flame with eyes and a mouth was left in her place, blinking at him curiously. “What are you waiting for, Tsuna-kun? Let’s go!”

Tsuna jumped a little at hearing his friend’s voice coming out of the flame, but nodded and headed to the front door. His mother had already left for the day, heading to one of her jobs but Tsuna still bid the empty room goodbye and locked up before heading to school at a light jog, Pioggia floating beside him. “Why are you running?” Pioggia asked him curiously, and Tsuna smiled at her.

“I have bullies, a-and they won’t chase me if I’m already running.”

The blue fire scowled a little, but Tsuna could tell it wasn’t directed at him. “Is there anyone you can talk to about this?”

“Hmm,” Tsuna hummed a little, mostly to humor his friend. He was Dame; who would listen to him? “There is the Disciplinary Committee, but they likely won’t care and tell me it’s my fault.”

The scowl visibly grew. “Well, I can’t help you with fighting just yet, but I can help you see when bullies might come after you.”

Tsuna looked at her curiously as he stepped into his classroom, nodding to some of the kinder faces that he saw. “Oh? How?” he made sure to lower his voice; he didn’t want “Creepy” added to his already cruel moniker. He sat at his desk and watched Pioggia float above the table.

“I am the spirit of the Rain pacifier, as I have told you.” Tsuna nodded in confirmation and Pioggia continued. “Rain represents Tranquility, and as I am one of two spirits of Rain, I am one half of Tranquility. I am Tranquility through the awareness of others; my brother spirit, Monsone, is Tranquility through the awareness of the self. I am calm because I am aware of everything around me; what they are capable of, their influence, their motivations, everything. I can teach you that awareness, and it will keep you safer.”

Tsuna nodded to that, and opened his mouth to speak before shutting it. He couldn’t just speak to nothing and expect people to not notice. Contemplating it for a moment, the seven year old perked up, gesturing for Pioggia to wait a moment and digging through his bag. He found one of his notebooks and put it on the table beside his friend, then grabbing a pen and writing on a page. **That sounds like a good idea.**

Pioggia stared at the kanji awkwardly, flame becoming smaller, for a moment before turning back to Tsuna. “Sorry, Tsuna-kun. I may know spoken Japanese but kanji is a bit beyond me.” When the brunet wilted a little at what he mistook as a rejection, Pioggia flew to hover directly in front of his face. “It’s okay! Just write it in English! It’ll help your English at least a little, and I can start teaching you Italian as well. But that was a really good idea!”

Tsuna perked back up and smiled hesitantly at Pioggia before very clumsily rewriting the words in English. The words came crooked and jagged, the letters still unfamiliar to the learning child. But he got his point across as Pioggia swiftly read over the words and nodded without hesitation. “Okay, we’ll start simple. Do you see that kid three seats up and two to the right?” Tsuna peeked over as he stood with the others when the teacher came in, greeted him then sat back down. He nodded. “He’s standing slouched on his right side, but doesn’t look comfortable; he’s favoring his left leg, so it’s injured. But from what?”

Tsuna looked at the kid in between small peeks even as he struggled through taking notes. _He’s on the soccer team,_ Tsuna realized as he finally placed a name to his face. _So…did he injure himself?_ And Tsuna hesitantly wrote down **Soccer Injury?** in the margins, brightening when Pioggia nodded.

“Yes. I noticed that he had a very soccer-themed backpack and school set, as well as the fact that he doodles a ball with the same number over and over in his notes from what I can see, and deduced the same thing. Alright, now focus on the teacher; we’ll pick this up later.”

Tsuna nodded and obediently turned back to the teacher, already feeling his eyelids grow heavy from the onslaught of boredom that assaulted him without Pioggia distracting him. The Rain spirit listened for a while, before eventually growing bored and telling Tsuna that she would be back and drifting off to go explore the school.

After a little while, she saw a student patrolling the halls and moved closer. It was an underling, from what she could see, with a thuggish look and a red band on his arm. She couldn’t read the band, but she could take a guess as to what it said. _Is he a member of the Disciplinary Committee then?_ She asked herself, hesitating as he passed by before giving in to curiosity and perching on his head. _I’ll find out soon, most likely._

As Pioggia was exploring the school, Tsuna did his best to take notes in class, dutifully ignoring the children who whispered mean things to him and the laughter when the teacher asked him a question he didn’t know. He suddenly paused when he felt eyes on him, and looked around. He couldn’t see anyone and, shrugging, Tsuna pushed it aside for the time being and went back to taking notes. After a while the eyes went away, making the brunet relax again in relief.

The class passed on as dully as it normally did, though it did brighten again when Pioggia returned. She listened to the teacher’s lecture for a while before turning to look at Tsuna. What she saw made her frown and caught Tsuna’s attention. He began to wilt a little before she began to very carefully translate what the teacher was saying to be more understandable to the seven year old. “Hmm,” she whispered to herself before directing the next statement to Tsuna. “I would recommend using smaller words if you are having a hard time understanding him.”

Tsuna nodded with a grateful smile and began taking notes with more confidence, the concepts making more sense to the brunet with Pioggia’s simpler words. They continued like that, Tsuna pretending to listen to the teacher while actually listening to his friend and taking notes off of her transcribed lecture. Idly, Tsuna couldn’t help but wonder how the others could understand the teacher so easily. Did they just know how to jump between ideas better than him?

When the final bell went off they all stood and bowed to the teacher, everyone racing to get out of the room first. The brunet didn’t fight his way through and instead moved with the flow of the crowd who was pushing their way to the door. Pioggia floated to rest on Tsuna’s head, making the boy giggle at the ticklish heat he could feel on that part of his scalp.

It made Pioggia smile, even more delighted to realize that Tsuna could actually _feel_ her flames without it hurting him. The fact that she could interact with the little brunet still kind of blew her mind. She was certain that he was the first she’d ever seen with such an ability.

As they were leaving the school, Tsuna tensed and Pioggia spun around to look for the cause of his sudden tension. A group of kids were walking over to Tsuna, cruel smirks on their faces, and the Rain spirit had a sinking feeling on where this was going. “Tsuna-kun? What’s going on?” She looked down, at Tsuna, and the face that looked back told her everything.

The seven year old burst into action, running toward the school gates with the other children a ways behind him. It was a race to see who was faster, Tsuna or the bullies, and typically it’s the bullies who win this race.

It looked as if it would be a reenactment of what was often seen before, as one of the bigger children grabbed onto Tsuna’s arm rougher than normal and causing Tsuna to let out a surprised and pained shriek. The other children circled around like dogs around injured prey, and it made Tsuna look down in shame that his friend going to see this. “What’s wrong Dame-Tsuna?” One of the kids taunted, the others snickering cruelly around them. “Scared?”

Pioggia was silent on his head, her flames oddly cold against the warmth of sun and the heat she was previously providing. “Tsuna?” He hummed a little to tell her he was listening. “That guy holding your arm? Bite his hand.” Tsuna blinked in confusion. Had he heard her correctly? “I can guess his intentions, Tsuna.” She saw the way the bully’s arm tensed, preparing to yank Tsuna’s arm higher and potentially dislocate it, and let a rare moment of panic get to her. “Bite his hand _now_!” Jumping at the urgency in her voice, the brunet obeyed immediately, biting down hard on the hand which withdrew with a cry of pain.

“What the hell?!” The bully shouted, the others shooting Tsuna confused looking that swiftly began to shift back to hostile. “You have problems, Dame-Tsuna,” the one he bit hissed, but another voice cut in before he could do anything, making all of the boys around the seven year old pale to sickly colors.

“Crowding herbivores will be bitten to death,” the voice of the Demon of Namimori himself spoke up behind them, and the bullies spun around, accidentally shielding Tsuna from view. When they saw that it was indeed Hibari Kyouya before them, all three turned tail and fled, the nine year old’s reputation already being fearsome enough to warrant a “flee on sight” notice among younger delinquents.

The skylark then turned his gaze on Tsuna, who hadn’t bothered running from the protector of Namimori; if he wanted to catch Tsuna, he would. The brunet smiled at the other child and bowed deeply. “Arigato, Hibari-senpai,” he thanked the other boy readily, Hibari grunting in acknowledgement and turning away.

“You’ll have to bite harder if you want them to leave you alone, little herbivore.” And with that strange advice the other child left, leaving Tsuna gaping at his retreating back.

Pioggia returned to her original warmth, and stared at the little skylark as well. “…He seems like a nice boy.” Tsuna sighed a little and shook his head, turning back to the gates to continue on his way home.

“Does that mean he won’t get mad if I defend myself?” The seven year old asked his friend, who hummed in thought and made Tsuna giggle at the vibrations he felt coming off of the flame from that.

“Seems so, and that makes sense. He won’t blame you for “disrupting the peace”; you didn’t start the fights after all. Just make sure it’s reactive; you shouldn’t pick fights just because you think you can get away with it.”

Tsuna pouted. “I knew that, Pio-nee! Why would I want to start a fight?”

The blue flame laughed. “Just making sure you knew.” She then bounced off of his head and floated by Tsuna’s side, before transforming back into her human form. Pioggia stretched out her limbs languidly. “Today was interesting, I guess. I suppose I’ll help you translate the teacher; goodness knows I have no clue how your classmates are making heads or tails out of what he’s saying. And each day we’ll do a different observation exercise and you’ll learn how to read people, rooms, all of that for defending yourself. That should help with your bullying problem.” _And maybe even your chronic clumsiness,_ she added silently as Tsuna grinned up at her only to trip on nothing and fall flat onto the ground.

Pioggia gently helped Tsuna back up, smiling to let him know that she wasn’t upset at him falling over. “I’ll race you to your house!” And with that she turned back into a flame and took off down the road, Tsuna shouting protests behind her.

“No fair, Pio-nee! You don’t have legs in that form!” But he was also laughing as he shouted that, so the Rain spirit gave it no mind.

“You’ll just have to run faster, then!” She teasingly threw back, but did slow down a little so that they were neck and neck racing their way to Tsuna’s house.

The street echoed with Tsuna’s joyful laughter, and another spirit looked at them, curious. “So this is who’s making Pioggia so happy. I was wondering…”


	3. Ember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pioggia has to return to Lal for a little while, and Tsuna has to cope.

“D-Do you have to go back to Italy, Pio-nee?” Tsuna asked his older sister, wringing his hands nervously. “Y-You’ve only been here for two weeks.”

“I do have to go back,” the blue-haired spirit told the child regretfully. “It will only be for a few days, but I just need to drop in to make sure that Lal is alright.” _Plus,_ she added privately, _if I’m there when Colonello drops by, this will keep Monsone in the dark for a little while longer._ Don’t get her wrong; Pioggia does trust the other half of the Spirit of Rain. He just wasn’t as flexible in regards to what was more important between an innocent and their hosts, and she didn’t want to argue with him about how she was spending her time.

“B-But…” Pioggia focused back on the tiny brunet as he seemed to pale before her very eyes. “What if I wake up while you’re gone?” The thought seemed to terrify Tsuna, and the bluenette viciously beat back the desire to _murder_ his parents and the sting of sorrow that lashed behind her eyes at the sight of his own watery ones. “I don’t wanna wake up, Pio-nee!”

Pioggia crouched down a little and gently grabbed at Tsuna’s shoulder. “Tsuna-kun, I’ve told you,” she reminded him. “This isn’t a dream. I am very real, and you aren’t going to wake up from this because you are awake _right now_ , okay? I’m not going to leave you, Tsuna-kun,” she told the boy firmly, not letting her grip weaken when she felt him shift a little in response. “I’m going to be right next to you for the rest of your life, and no one’s going to tell me otherwise. I just have to visit other people for a little while every so other.” She smiled at the wide-eyed boy in front of her. “Got it?”

“…Got it.” Tsuna smiled back at her before hugging her tight around the neck. “Have fun in Italy,” he told her.

“Never,” she whispered back, just to hear him giggle at her childish answer. As she looked down at the boy she’d all but taken under her wing, she gave him a quick wink and hid her hands behind her back. “I have an idea! Can you keep something safe for me while I’m gone? I don’t want any of the other spirits getting jealous of my awesome fashion sense.” When he giggled and nodded again she showed him her hands, which now had a visor in them.

“Lal, my host, wears some that look like these. Whenever you wear them, you better think about me,” she mock-threatened, and Tsuna’s amber eyes lit up at the safekeeping.

“I will! I promise!” With another laugh Pioggia helped him put the visor on, pushing it up to rest on his forehead. The moment the visor came into contact with Tsuna it solidified, making it tangible to other people. The Rain spirit smiled triumphantly; that should help Tsuna know that it wasn’t a dream.

“You look awesome,” she told him honestly. “Visors could be your Thing. Maybe not in that color though.”

Tsuna shook his head at her. “Silly Pio-nee, Lal-san’s Thing is visors obviously. Wouldn’t it be weird if it was my Thing too?”

“Nuh-uh,” she denied, crossing her arms. “Get them in orange and they would be perfect.” When Tsuna just smiled at her, she dropped her shoulders a little. They both knew they were just extending the departure as soon as possible, but Pioggia could admit that she was a little proud of Tsuna for being the one to subtly get back to the original subject. “I’ll be back as soon as possible,” she repeated, and he nodded again as if she hadn’t told him that four times at this point. “Practice your Italian at the very least. You’re still a little choppy on basic sentence structure and pronunciation in general.”

“The vowels are weird,” Tsuna muttered mulishly, and Pioggia ruffled his hair.

“ _Your_ vowels are weird,” she lobbed back.

“Are not!”

“Are too! Wait, what am I doing?!” The Rain spirit facepalmed gently when she realized that she had just devolved to arguing with a seven year old on things that _sounded weird_. Thank god Fulmine hadn’t been there to see that. “One last hug.” She swept Tsuna into a bone crushing embrace which he returned as best as possible before putting him back down. “Five days at the most,” she reminded him, before waving as she faded from view.

The sight of Tsuna waving back frantically, eyes drinking in every remaining second that she was still there caused something awful to twist in her chest. How the hell could Iemitsu stay away for as long as he did if this was the last thing he saw every time he left? Pioggia honestly couldn’t understand it.

* * *

For five minutes Tsuna stared at the spot where Pioggia had disappeared, drooped a little in sadness at her disappearance. Finally he sighed and adjusted the visor, its weight on his head a comfort that he desperately needed. Tsuna figured he could spend the rest of the day in his room, but he knew that he needed to go to school and that Hibari’s passing interest in him ensured that he would notice if Tsuna didn’t show up, so he sighed and got his bag ready for the day.

After that he went down the stairs, only just managing to catch himself as he tripped like he normally did. With a relieved smile Tsuna finished going down the stairs, and greeted his mother in the kitchen. “Good morning kaa-san,” he said, taking a seat at the table and grabbing some of the food available.

“Good morning Tsu-kun!” His mother greeted back cheerfully as she finished setting the table and sat down across from him. “Are you ready for school?”

“Hai,” he answered her, before drooping a little. “But Pio-nee won’t be there with me today. She said she had to go back to Italy for a few days.”

“I…see,” His mother sounded off as she offered Tsuna an odd smile that he didn’t like. “Maybe while she’s gone you can make a _real_ friend, ne?”

Tsuna stared at his mom until her smile wilted a little. “I told you kaa-san,” he said patiently, ignoring the burning in his chest at his mother’s dismissal of his friend. “Pio-nee is my friend, and she is _real_. But she has other things she needs to do sometimes.”

“I know, Tsu-kun. I’m sorry.” But his mom’s expression didn’t change, and Tsuna bit back a (slightly bitter) sigh before bidding Nana goodbye and heading out to school.

The brunet ran through his now somewhat normal routine of identifying as much as he could that changed between when he last saw his classmates and then, and trying to deduce what could have led to the change. Without Pioggia helping Tsuna could admit that he found this rather difficult, but it also meant that he felt a greater accomplishment at spotting changes on his own without her there to point them out. But without Pioggia the teacher returned to being barely understandable to the seven year old, who doggedly took notes regardless of how much he understood of them.

The day couldn’t have ended faster for Tsuna and with a relieved sigh at the final bell the brunet stood and collected his things, shifting into the crowd with the ease of experience. He was about to slip out of the school and into the courtyard when he heard a voice that sent chills down his spine. “Herbivore.”

Shaking slightly, the brunet turned around and paled at the confirmation of the boy behind him. “H-Hibari-senpai. Is there something you need?”

The Demon of Namimori glared at him. “You are acting more like an herbivore than normal.” _And that’s saying something_ went unsaid between them, but both clearly heard it as Tsuna shrunk a little into himself. Hibari growled in frustration at the sight. “Stand up straight!” The bark was obeyed immediately by the terrified boy, who locked his eyes on the nine year old. The boy snorted but, after a moment of analyzing Tsuna, he turned away and began to head deeper into the school. “Leave or I will bite you to death for loitering after school hours.”

Tsuna stared at the older boy’s back in puzzlement. That entire encounter had been rather strange.

Without Pioggia to race back home and knowing that her lack of presence would be felt keenly at his house, Tsuna ended up wandering the town, looking through store windows and playing some games at the arcade with the loose change in his pocket. He stayed longer at the bookstore, flipping through various culture books and cooking recipes and taking notes of any that interested him.

At one point in his meandering Tsuna came across Sasagawa Ryohei, who challenged him to a race and had shared enough of his enthusiasm with Tsuna for him to accept. And it had been rather fun. It certainly wasn’t as close as the neck-and-necks that Pioggia always made theirs, but it was still fun to stretch out his legs and run with a fellow child, two years his senior or no.

“That was EXTREME, Tsuna!” The white-haired boy cheered, pumping his fist into the air with a bright grin. He was near glowing with energy and Tsuna blinked a little when he realized that Ryohei literally _was_ glowing, a soft yellow light emitting from his core and making Tsuna cast a very faint second shadow on the ground.

“Arigato, Sasagawa-senpai,” Tsuna decided to ignore the light for now as he panted for breath. Maybe Pioggia would know. “You’re a really good runner!”

“Call me Onii-san!” Ryohei told him in an apparent non-sequitur. “You’re Extreme enough to do so! And I’m a good runner because I EXTREMELY train all the time! You should join me!” Tsuna smiled at the older boy and shrugged.

“Maybe sometimes, Sasaga – er, Onii-san. But I’m a bit dumb and need to study a lot more to keep up with my classmates.” Tsuna’s smile didn’t waver even as Ryohei frowned a little at him in admonishment.

“I EXTREMELY doubt that you’re that dumb, little bro! Just do your best and you’ll be fine!” Ryohei offered him a thumb-up and Tsuna laughed a little, a part of his chest warming at his words.

“I will, Onii-san,” he promised. “Thank you.”

After waving goodbye to his new older brother figure, Tsuna wandered a little longer, simply trusting his feet to take him somewhere. And they did, depositing him in front of a park that Tsuna looked at the sign to curiously before entering. No one was there, he noted, but that made sense; it was approaching sunset, and so people were wrapping up their day and heading home, so the empty park wasn’t unusual.

Tsuna looked around, seeing if any of the equipment in the playground would catch his interest. He perked up at the sight of the swings, before pausing in surprise. There was someone there.

The brunet shrugged it off. He must have missed them in his initial glance over. Not too worried, Tsuna approached the swings and got a good look at the child. It was a young girl, possibly a few years older than him, with blue-black hair and intense orange eyes that were fixed on the ground as she swayed back and forth slowly on the swing. She looked lonely, Tsuna thought, and felt a pang of sympathy for her. He walked up to her and waited until she looked at him curiously. “Hi. I saw that you were alone and was wondering…do you want me to push you on the swing?”

The girl looked honestly surprised by his offer and Tsuna was about to retract his statement when she shot him a smile that took up her entire face. “Yes, thank you!” She sounded so happy in that instant, as if she didn’t play with others often, that Tsuna smiled back and began pushing her. They took turns after that, trying to push the other person higher and shrieking in joy (or fear and adrenaline, in Tsuna’s case) when they went so high that they felt the chain go slack with the lack of tension from being airborne. They did this until the sun was about to disappear beneath the horizon.

Tsuna looked at the girl and frowned a little. “Sorry, I have to go or my Mama will be worried about me.”

The girl smiled in reassurance. “That’s okay! I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

Tsuna smiled back in relief. “Definitely. My name’s Tsunayoshi, but you can call me Tsuna.”

The girl hesitated for a moment before smiling again, a little smaller than before. “My name’s Sora.” And then she hesitated again, before reaching out and kissing Tsuna on the cheek and causing both of them to erupt into fierce blushes. “Thanks for playing with me today, Tsuna-kun!”

Face burning, Tsuna nodded back before beating a hasty retreat, Sora’s giggles following behind him.


	4. Smolder

It had only been two days, and Pioggia was losing her mind. Every moment she had time to herself, the Rain spirit had to stop from flashing back to Tsuna in Japan. Five days at most, she’d told him, and she mentally winced. Five days typically would have been more accurate. Whenever she had stayed away from Lal for a large length of time, she’d tested and realized that, if she was gone for a month, she would need to be around her host for about five days before she could leave for a month again.

A soft _whoosh_ was heard next to her, followed by the other reason that she hadn’t returned to Tsuna quite just yet. Pioggia turned to look at the other spirit, taking in his blond hair and blue eyes and stern features as he stood in a comfortable at ease position. “Monsone,” she greeted, her frown receding a little in the presence of her fellow Rain spirit. “Colonello is bothering my host once more I take it.”

“Indeed,” Monsone nodded beside her, his face not even twitching even as he minutely relaxed beside her. Compared to his host, the blond spirit was quite the contrast but it was to be expected. Monsone was the spirit of Tranquility that came from the awareness of himself. That led to being incredibly disciplined and his overall military bearing. “I would offer apology, but that would imply that I can affect his decisions.”

Pioggia snorted. “I can sympathize, but not much. A number of people Lal hits for being idiots I agree with her on. Though…” her thoughts drifted to Tsuna, to their semi-disastrous first meeting, and her expression softened a little, “there are times that I do disagree with her.”

Monsone hummed agreeably, and shot her a look. “You are different from when our hosts last met,” he told her, not needling but still making Pioggia tense a little at his mild scrutiny nonetheless. “Happier. Have you made contact with Lal?”

The woman shook her head, snorting bitterly. “Of course not. She doesn’t even acknowledge herself as an Arcobaleno. How can we possibly meet when she dismisses even the idea of such a thing?” And it really did come down to that. How could anyone expect Pioggia to protect Lal if she didn’t even know or acknowledge Pioggia at all? It just wears away at a person and thirty years was certainly enough time to simply have her going through the motions without actually feeling anything.

“You sound like Tempesta,” Monsone pointed out, before chuckling quietly at the horrified look that no doubt crossed her face. Though it was completely justifiable on her part.

The Storm Spirit had become embittered by his host’s hypocritical and pacifist ways, how he rejected the joy of a good fight and the drive to improve himself constantly that Tempesta himself loved. That mixed with Fon’s refusal to see Tempesta, despite the fact that he meditated regularly and should therefore be the _most_ open to the idea, had made the pacifier spirit refuse to be around any of the hosts, and was only seen around Fon when he was forced to return to regain his energy.

“If this is how Tempesta feels all of the time, I completely understand,” Pioggia admitted. “To help our hosts so much, and have them not even be aware of it? Not even acknowledge that they should not have had the strength to survive what they have, but did? I understand the bitterness that comes from that. But Tempesta’s anger is more than that; his goes into how Fon’s own desires match Tempesta’s but he willingly ignores his own nature.” She shook her head in a rare moment of sympathy for the Storm Spirit. “I don’t even know how I would feel if Lal rejected who she really was for any reason.”

“I agree,” Monsone added curtly. “For all that Colonello isn’t the bastion of calmness typically associated with Rain, he accepts who he is and does not try to hide it, and has the stability known for Internal Rain users. Had he betrayed himself, he would have betrayed me as well.”

The two stood together in silence, thinking on their hosts and what it meant to be so bound to people who didn’t even know they existed.

* * *

The days without Pioggia went a little faster with Sora there to play with Tsuna. He started looking forward to seeing the older girl at the park around sunset. He would usually race with Ryohei to get there, which the older boy seem to really enjoy if his grins and friendly slaps on the back were anything to go by. After the race, Tsuna would wave him goodbye and cool down by jogging to the swing set where Sora was waiting for him.

They would play for a few hours every day, Sora showing Tsuna how to climb trees without immediately falling and Tsuna showing her his favorite places to play around there. He didn’t want to worry Sora’s parents if they came back early to get her only for the nearby area to be completely empty.

He thinks playing with Sora has made him more confident. Having a friend there, to be a kid with and play with and confide in, made the treatment he received at school a lot easier to deal with. He started to not even notice some of the milder ones, too busy thinking about what they could do for the day. He also started greeting Hibari whenever he passed by him, but that was more due to seeing him around more than he had before and not wanting to be rude.

Tsuna even made sort-of friends with two of the girls in his class, Hana and Kyoko, though he suspects that this was due more to Ryohei talking about him a lot to his younger sister than due to a change in his situation. And with Kyoko followed the ever loyal Hana, and Tsuna could respect that level of loyalty among friends.

(He hopes that he and Pioggia will become like that one day.)

The two were nice enough, but they stopped giving him pitying and irritated looks when they saw just how much he was struggling with the notes he was taking in class. “It isn't that difficult, Sawada–kun,” Kyoko said, looking concerned as he told her his thought process and what was blocking him up.

“I _know_ that, but it still doesn't make sense,” he told her despairingly, staring down at the homework that continued to mock his existence. “For some reason the formulae that we are taught to use just don't pop into mind immediately and I have to look through my notes to have any idea what you have to do.”

Hana frowned and looked through the notebook. “The formulae check out,” she confirmed to herself and looked back at Tsuna. “Do you think it's some sort of memory problem? Maybe you have short-term memory loss, or hit your head when you were younger or something.”

“But I remember your names,” he pointed out. “And I remember that I _have_ homework, even if I’m bad at it. Shouldn’t I forget those things too, not just how to do the homework?”

Hana and Kyoko shared frowns. “I’m not sure,” Hana admitted, scowling to herself in frustration. Tsuna was a good kid, once she got to know him, and it chafed that she couldn’t help him out with this when it clearly upset him. “Maybe ask your mom? She might know more about this stuff.”

“No,” he said miserably, “she’ll just laugh it off and say I just can’t do it but that doesn’t mean she loves me less. She says that when I show her my bad grades.” The girls shot each other another look, this one much angrier, but Tsuna didn’t say anything about it as they split up to go home. Tsuna waved fleetingly at the Discipline Committee members that he ran into, not minding their hawk-like stare as he left the school. So long as he didn’t do anything against the rules, they wouldn’t seek out trouble.

He ran into Ryohei inevitably, as the boy had taken to starting the boxing club later so that he could run with Tsuna to the park, which Tsuna was rather flattered by. He smiled at the boy and began to jog, the boxer easily keeping pace. They would speed up and slow down occasionally, Ryohei proclaiming some new challenge at every block that Tsuna would try to do, and though Tsuna would usually fail Ryohei never said anything about it, shouting about Tsuna’s “EXTREME will” and encouraging him to keep going. It reminded Tsuna of Pioggia in a way, offering him unwavering support and not caring if he stumbles or falls along the way.

It was probably why he liked Ryohei so much, and did his best to meet each challenge.

They got to the park in a few minutes and Tsuna waved goodbye to Ryohei before cooling off by walking to the swings. Sure enough there was Sora, leaning on a tree near the swings. She smiled at him as he approached, but the smile faded as she took in his still somewhat downcast disposition. “Tsuna-kun?” She inquired, hands wringing together. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Sora-chan,” Tsuna responded, shoulders hunched up. “I was just talking to my school friends; we think there may be something off with the way I remember things, but we don’t know what it could be.”

“How do you mean?” Sora asked, nudging him a little to walk to the swings, which he obeyed with a grateful look.

“I can remember all of my friends’ names and the things they like, but things like figuring out which formula to use and where messes me up, even with the formula written down nearby. It’s like there’s something blocking me from realizing that this problem can be solved with this formula, even when they’re on the same page together. Someone else has to tell me.” He slumped dejectedly onto the swing, kicking idly to have a small momentum going.

Sora considered that from her own swing and the two spent a few minutes in silence, lost in their own thoughts before she spoke up. “I think I know what’s happening.”

Tsuna tried his best not get his hopes too high but couldn’t help perking up. “Oh?”

“When we first met, I noticed that something felt off about you. It felt like there was a barrier, trying to keep a part of you separated from the rest, but something like that can hurt people at a really young age, as they are actually missing a part of themselves. I kind of think other kids can sense that, and that’s why you started getting bullied. They feel that you’re weaker somehow and the meaner ones use that to hurt you.”

Sometimes Tsuna boggled at his friend’s words, both the difficulty of the words themselves and the meaning behind them. “Maybe _that’s_ it. It’s certainly more than what the rest of us could guess!” But for all the explanation made sense, it didn’t stop Tsuna from slumping a little in renewed distress. “But how are we supposed to fix _that_? A piece of me is _missing_ if we’re right.”

“Not missing,” Sora clarified. “just kept away, like a fence between you and it.” She worried her lip a little, eyes moving from Tsuna to the area around them. “I might be able to fix it,” she finally told him.

The brunet’s head whipped up quickly, eyes locking onto her in shock. “You _can_?” He asked, hardly able to believe it.

“ _Maybe_ ,” she stressed back, eyes still moving around uneasily. “But I would need you to trust me.”

The response was out of Tsuna’s mouth before he could consider stopping it. “I’ll always trust you, Sora-chan.”

The smile she sent him back was a sad one, but nevertheless she got up from her swing and walked over to him. “I hope you mean that, Tsuna-kun.” And with that she touched his head and darkness filled his vision.


	5. Flare

When Tsuna awoke, he was surrounded in darkness, nothing but pure black as far as the eye could see. “Where am I?” Tsuna asked the empty air, scrambling to his feet and freezing in confusion. His movements felt…lighter for some reason, like some large weight had been taken off of his shoulders and legs. He shifted his arms a little, and marveled at the responsiveness he felt, even giddy at how he seemed capable of noticing more than he ever had before, wrinkles in his clothes and bruises he’d never noticed before now standing out in stark detail. “What happened?” he called out. “Sora-chan? Are you here?”

He received no answer, but that didn’t inspire the immediate shard of anxiety it normally did. Instead, he felt something in the back of his mind, something he’d felt before but never at the intensity he did now. “I’m not mad, Sora-chan. You said I should trust you, and I still do. What happened?”

There was nothing for another moment, and then – a small shudder in the space around him. A light slowly bled into existence, a tiny orange flame that floated a few feet away from Tsuna before it opened its tiny eyes and looked away guiltily.

Tsua stared at the orange flame, so much like Pioggia, before the feeling at the back of his head went off again. “Sora-chan? Is that you?”

The tiny floating flame nodded sadly, eyes avoiding Tsuna’s. “Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Tsuna-kun. I didn’t want you to be mad at me.” She seemed to shrink before his eyes, to a flame barely the size of his finger. “I just wanted someone to play with me.”

Tsuna thought about it, his thoughts clearer than he ever remembers them being, ideas connecting and transitioning with ease and making sense to him for once. “I’m not mad,” he told her, but continued before she could say anything herself. “But I am sad you didn’t think I’d be your friend if I knew you were a pacifier spirit. I already have a friend like that, you didn’t need to lie to me.”

She shrunk even smaller. “I’m sorry,” she said, voice cracking a little, but Tsuna just held out a hand, palm laid flat beneath her form.

“It’s alright, at least you told me the truth,” he soothed. “The gaijin that visits sometimes never told me he was in the Mafia, and he’s been visiting my family for years! And kaa-san always seems happy to see him, so if she can forgive that guy I can definitely forgive you.”

Sora stared at him with wide, teary-looking eyes, before letting out a shuddery breath and drifting down to rest on his hand. Slowly, her size began to grow to about half the size of Pioggia. “You probably have some questions,” she said, and Tsuna nodded.

“A few,” he agreed. He used his free hand to gesture to the dark space around them. “Where are we?”

“We’re in your head. Or, we’re in a kind of ‘safe place’ in your head. When I did my trick to help you it had a backlash that made your mind go to this safe place for safety. Because of my abilities, I was able to follow you in.”

Tsuna blinked at that. “Your abilities?”

“You know how Pioggia represents tranquility in face of external pressures?” Tsuna nodded. “Well, I just represent…harmony. I represent balance in all aspects. It’s one of the reasons I could help you; your body and mind were imbalanced because of a blocker in your head, and I was able to get rid of it to restore the balance.”

“Okay.” Tsuna thought more of what he wanted to ask as Sora bobbed up and down on his palm, some of her playfulness returned with their conversation. “How do you know Pio-nee?”

“I’m the same as Pioggia. Well, kind of.” She bobbed up and down for another moment as she thought about her words. “Did Pioggia tell you about Flames?”

Tsuna scrunched up his nose as he thought. “Not really. She mentioned being the spirit of the Rain Pacifier, and said it was a kind of Flame, but I think that’s it.”

“Oh. Well, there are seven Flames, and each Flame has its own abilities, like Rain being tranquility and mine being harmony. There’s Rain, Sky, Storm, Sun, Mist, Cloud, and Lightning. Everyone in the world has at least one Flame type, but a lot of them never learn how to use them. I’m Sky, as you’ve probably guessed.” Tsuna nodded with a shy smile and she grinned back. “You’re a Sky user, and that’s the other reason I was able to help you so much. The block was made up of someone else’s Sky Flames, so I was able to kind of eat them to make them go away.”

“Is being a Sky user good?” Tsuna asked, and Sora looked excited for a second before she made herself settle again.

“I want to say, ‘oh definitely!’ but it depends,” she admitted honestly. “Sky users are considered the leaders of whatever group they’re a part of, because they’re able to keep everyone from breaking out into fighting and maintain the harmony of all of the chaotic forces. But it puts a lot of pressure on Sky users to be perfect, or tolerant of their group’s behavior. You’ll also see a lot of older Flame users try to manipulate and groom Sky users to take advantage of their influence.” She dimmed as she spoke, and Tsuna felt his own face pale at the thought of _more_ people trying to push him around like all of his bullies. “It can be really hard to be a Sky user,” she finished, her voice barely a whisper.

The two sat there in silence for a few minutes, Tsuna looking at Sora and Sora looking off into the distance. “I’m sorry,” Tsuna apologized, making Sora turn to look at him. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.” There was a faint roaring in his ears, but he ignored it to focus more on his friend.

“I know. It’s just a…sad topic,” she said slowly, the admission hurting her more than she’d say. “It’s also hard, to not be able to help. At one time my Pacifier holder would have been tasked with keeping other Sky users safe, along with maintaining the balance of the world, but the duty has been diluted over the centuries to just that second one, and none of the pacifier users know about the oaths they used to have to take to protect those of their Flame type.”

“And you can’t tell them?” Tsuna asked, the roaring in the ears growing louder the longer he listened.

“They don’t listen anymore,” her light was barely visible at this point, having shrunk so much she could have fit on the tip of his finger. “None of the latest wearers of the Pacifiers can hear us, they’re forced into their roles as guardians of the world and don’t know that we exist and can help them, or tell them of the old ways. No matter how loud we scream, they are deaf.” If she was going to say more it was interrupted as a fire burned in Tsuna’s eyes and appeared on his forehead.

“I’ll make them see, Sora-chan.” Tsuna’s voice was firm as he looked at her and she stared back with wide eyes. “I’ll find a way to make the Pacifier holders see their spirits. I can’t do it now,” his eyes dropped briefly at the admission and snapped back up. “I’m too weak and too young and don’t know how I can help. But I will find a way. I’ll help you.” His eyes burned into hers and she flared back to her original size, neither noticing the glow building between them. “I promise.”

And with that, the light consumed the two of them and eradicated the darkness that surrounded them.

* * *

Pioggia was, for once, grateful that Lal was so disconnected from her Pacifier that she couldn’t feel any of Pioggia’s emotions.

Otherwise she wouldn’t understand why she was angrier than _usual_ at Iemitsu’s bullshit.

The Spirit of the External Rain was lounging midair, half-heartedly listening to the CEDEF’s meeting and stewing angrily at Iemitsu’s cheerful assurances that the guards had gotten back to him and Tsuna was doing quite well, calling him stupid pet names and cooing over how “he’d be a man like me in no time!” Based on Lal’s flat look and twitching hands, she was barely restraining herself from committing violence against her leader. “Enough,” she finally snapped out, interrupting him mid-rant. “No one cares, Iemitsu. Either provide objective facts or I will stop you again, but more _firmly_.”

Pioggia sighed in relief as the man-child whined but moved on to another subject, instead discussing the status of the Varia with their leader still out of commission. She reluctantly stuck around; if Tsuna asked about anything, he might be interested in his last living cousin.

It was as she listened in that she noticing something was…amiss. Pioggia shifted herself into a standing position, her eyes roaming across the room. She felt a spark of frustration that she couldn’t “sense” the location of the disturbance the same way a Sky user could, but shrugged it off in favor of looking at each person more closely. Finally, her gaze latched onto the space next to Iemitsu’s ear, noting the slight disturbance in the supposedly empty space, and she leaned against the wall in faux nonchalance.

“Running errands for your host, Nebbia?” She asked, eyes still locked onto the empty space.

There was a pause, tension building as it extending from one minute to two, before it gave away with a near audible pop as the camouflage was stripped away, revealing a dark blue flame that was hovering near an oblivious Iemitsu. “Of a sort,” she concurred, before floating over to Pioggia. As she moved she shifted, a body growing into place, hidden completely by a black cloak. “I haven’t seen you in some time, Pioggia,” Nebbia, the Spirit of the Mist Pacifier, greeted, and Pioggia couldn’t help but give her a small smile at that.

“I have found a more interesting way to spend my time than wasting it wishing Lal could see me,” she confessed wryly, saying nothing as Nebbia shifted at her words. “How has your host been?”

“Well-paid,” Nebbia said, dry as a desert, but her lips twitched slightly at the laughter she’d startled out of the Rain spirit. “Also rather busy. She’s losing patience with her coworkers and has been increasing her prices as of late. I’ve decided to ease her burden as much as possible.” After that she went silent, and didn’t respond as Pioggia shifted her weight in silent demand for elaboration.

She sighed. “Not going to tell me anymore, huh?” When Nebbia merely shook her head, smile never faltering, Pioggia returned to floating and crossed her legs beneath her. Nebbia found a spot next to her and together the two continued to listen in to the meeting. When the meeting concluded and the group disbanded the two stayed in place, letting their thoughts wander. Pioggia broke the silence first. “Have you managed to Synchronize with your host yet?” It was more a habit to ask than any sincere curiosity. None of them have achieved Synchronization with their hosts in decades.

Which was why it was so startling when Nebbia hesitated and then quietly said, “Yes.”

“ _What_?” Pioggia spun around, straightening and landing on the floor with a solid _thud_. “How? When? What happened?” There was a kind of mania in Pioggia’s fervor, but it was understandable.

To Synchronize you needed a genuine connection between the spirit and the other person. They need to have talked, conversed to the point that a bond was formed, and come to an understanding. The person needed to be willing to hold the spirit in the very _being_ , unafraid of any changes the two could inspire in one another. It required a trust most humans were unwilling to give.

Nebbia’s hands tightened minutely around each other. “There was an ambush,” she started, slowly, reluctant to go on but she _knew_ how important it was that the others knew about the Synchronization. “They’d been aware of the numbers, the people, even the equipment that was being used for the hit. Everyone else was killed, leaving Viper and a Storm officer alive. They were converging on the Storm and Viper…panicked is never a word I would user for her, and I still would not, but she did move decisively, and the surge of will connected to me and _clicked_. The next thing I knew, I was looking through her eyes with her and we managed to have the entire ambush squad kill each other.”

As she spoke a spark lit up her eyes, the thrill of accomplishment and the successful connection still a vivid memory. “We left one alive long enough to determine who leaked the information before we killed them and finished the hit.” She shrugged. “I regret the loss of life, but not the end result.”

Pioggia shrugged; she didn’t have any room to talk. At this point she didn’t know what she would do to Synchronize with someone again, to feel the connection of two people mutually driven to a common goal. “Was the information on the leak worthwhile?”

“Potentially,” Nebbia admitted, once more reluctant to give away information sensitive to the Varia. She straightened up for a moment before transforming into her flame form. “I have to return to my host. I was happy to see you, Pioggia and…I hope you continue with your new hobby.” She took in the other spirit’s blank face and looked at her more intently. “The one you mentioned being better than dithering around your host? It seems to be doing you good.”

Pioggia had to fight to hold back a reaction as understanding hit her, and instead gave the other a nod. “It really is,” she said, entirely sincere, and Nebbia nodded back before disappearing from view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so dialog-heavy guys; I've noticed that most of the things I write involve open and honest conversations. I think it's my dislike for misunderstandings influencing my writing.

**Author's Note:**

> I was tired of holding on to this fic. I don't have that many chapters written up but I'll continue working on it.


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